Obituary

A Japan-based Chinese boxer named Cho He (5-6, 4 KOs), passed away on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan, because of a brain injury suffered in his previous bout fifteen days ago on May 3. Cho was stopped in the sixth and final session of a 130-pound fight in Tokyo and the unconscious boxer was carried away on a stretcher. He was immediately hospitalized to undergo an urgent operation and remove blood clots at the Jikei Medical Hospital.

Cho, whose Japanese name was Mikio Takeuchi, was a third generation of his Chinese grand-parents who had moved here by keeping their Chinese nationality. Cho floored Daichi Sakoda in the first round, but the tide turned with Sakoda retaliating with busy combinations. In the fatal round, at 2:53 with only seven seconds remaining, it was waived off as Cho looked temporarily helpless with the rubbery legs. It never looked a late stoppage as some people even castigated the referee's halt as premature and said that the loser Cho could have lasted seven more seconds.

On the eve of a history-making night of Yusuke Kobori's WBA lightweight coronation on the national "Boxing Day", this ring tragedy happened with all our boxing people mourning for his soul to rest in peace.